As the deadline clicked over yesterday, 26th June 2018, for bids in the first round of the sale of 145 Wyevale Garden Centres by Terra Firma, GTN’s Trevor Pfeiffer met with CEO Roger McLaughlan for the first of what we hope will be a series of meetings to keep us all updated during the potentially lengthy sales process.

Understandably Roger was not able to comment on the process right now but a Terra Firma spokesperson said: “We have been delighted by the level of interest we have received in Wyevale Garden Centres. We have received a significant number of offers for all and parts of the business from national, regional and financial operators as well as local entrepreneurs. We will now be considering the offers over the coming weeks.”

What Roger was able to do was to pass on re-assurance that it really is business as usual at Wyevale Garden Centres; “I’m greatly enjoying speaking to and supporting my great team, both here at Syon Park and out in the centres. I was able to spend all of Thursday, Friday and Saturday last week out in stores.”

Roger also stressed that it is business as usual in-terms of forward buying and ordering even as far ahead as for next summers outdoor leisure and plant ranges with his slimmed down senior management and executive team ready and able to make fast retail decisions.

So, the first round bids are in.  All we can do now is wait for the smoke signals from Christies, the sales agents, and Terra Firma, the shareholders, when decisions are made and the second round gets underway.  In the meantime, we wish Roger and his Wyevale team well in their management of the business during the coming months.

If you have a comment about the process or the speculation, please use the comments link below or e-mail trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk